Incredible HLQ project! (Gasoline Powered Quad!)

SleepyC

www.AirHeadMedia.com

Welcome to the Incredible HLQ project! We are a team of senior mechanical engineering students at San Jose State University developing and building the worlds first Heavy Lift Quadcopter (HLQ) with a practical weight capacity of 50 pounds. This site will follow the progress and status of the project as it proceeds from concept to working prototype. Please check back often for updates and thank you for visiting!

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WHAT IS HLQ?
We are designing and building a Heavy Lift Quadcopter (HLQ) which we are calling Incredible HLQ (sounds like “Hulk”). Like the super hero, HLQ will be able to lift and transport a huge amount of weight for it’s size and cost. HLQ will be capable autonomously retrieving and delivering 50 pounds of payload.

HOW ARE WE DOING IT?
In order to accomplish the 50 pound goal, HLQ will utilize a drive train powered by two gasoline two-stroke engines of about 12.5 HP each. Lift will be achieved using four commercial RC helicopter rotor heads spinning four 435mm blades. Selection of these blades were based of actual lift testing in our test rig which is featured in the video. Control is achieved by using the variable pitch control of the rotor-heads to change the lift output and induces torque of each rotor.

Flight control will utilize DIYDrone’s Ardupilot APM2.5+ module. The Ardupilot is a open-source arduino based control board for UAV’s. It has been widely utilized for many fixed wing, helicopter and multi-rotor flight platforms and has a proven track record. Best of all, the programming is already done for us.

In addition, we will be utilizing a computer vision system for payload identification and tracking using the OpenCV library on a Roboard RB-110. The RB-110 is a complete computer on a single board. It has a 486 compatible processor running at 1GHz and is capable of running, Windows, Linux or Dos. We will be using OpenCV through it’s Python extensions to identify payloads and guide HLQ in for retrieval.

As students of San Jose State, we have a lot of resources available to us for designing and building HLQ. The Engineering department has a computer lab which has design tools such as PTC Creo, Solid Works, and Inventor. We have thus far been utilizing mostly Creo to design and analyze HLQ. We also have access to electronics labs, mechatronics labs, and product testing labs to help build and troubleshoot HLQ.

We are also just two blocks away from the San Jose TechShop which gives us access to lathes, mills, laser cutters, a water-jet machine, electronics equipment and more.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, we have made contact with members of the worlds top aerospace and mechanical engineering firms right here in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are designing HLQ with reliance on their knowledge and experience.

For more info check out:
http://www.incrediblehlq.com
 

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Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
I just sent an email to the project email address asking if they'd come by and answer whatever questions you guys might have.
we'll see if they oblige us.
 

gtranquilla

RadioActive
Amazing...... I can see the need for variable prop pitch control when the motors are not electric. Wishing you great success.
 


Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
would love to see a team member drop by to say hello and take a few questions.....
 

Old Man

Active Member
A pair of 100cc gas engines is going to consume quite a lot of fuel so the tank design and location will be interesting. I would change engine manufacturers for something at this investment level to ones with a strong history of long term dependability. This is what I do for a living (UAV gas engines) and something I have a lot of experience with at the hobby level too. Something will have to be done about engine exhaust because the sound of the props combined with the engine noise will be horrendous.
 


kloner

Aerial DP
I'd be scared to rely on a servo to keep it in the sky. The vibrations coming off them motors has to be extreme..... i've seen weird stuff happen in gassers and servos and electronics in general

sounds cool, gonna be a noisy sob by the time it's got 50 lbs under it
 

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
A pair of 100cc gas engines is going to consume quite a lot of fuel so the tank design and location will be interesting. I would change engine manufacturers for something at this investment level to ones with a strong history of long term dependability. This is what I do for a living (UAV gas engines) and something I have a lot of experience with at the hobby level too. Something will have to be done about engine exhaust because the sound of the props combined with the engine noise will be horrendous.

four stroke gassers in that size range are starting to catch on so that might be a good avenue for future development
 



kloner

Aerial DP
i could see some crazy pilot with goggles hanging out of that thing in the next mad max.... haha
 

Old Man

Active Member
four stroke gassers in that size range are starting to catch on so that might be a good avenue for future development

Too heavy. That thing as it stands should be able to dead lift a bit over 100 pounds if they prop it right. However, mods to make it less noisy will rob some of the available power. It still won't be as quiet as an electric bird though.
 
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Jjjkkklll

Member
We actually met the HLQ students while on a gig in norcal a couple months ago. We were filming for some huge auto show and they tracked us down when we came in to land (we were at a neighboring site shooting with a long lens). Pretty bright bunch, and I'm happy to see things are progressing with that big sucker. Pretty cool.
 

Jjjkkklll

Member
I'd be scared to rely on a servo to keep it in the sky. The vibrations coming off them motors has to be extreme..... i've seen weird stuff happen in gassers and servos and electronics in general

sounds cool, gonna be a noisy sob by the time it's got 50 lbs under it

That is EXACTLY what I told them. None of the three guys I met had a lot of practical RC experience. I really hope it works out for them though.
 


R_Lefebvre

Arducopter Developer
A pair of 100cc gas engines is going to consume quite a lot of fuel so the tank design and location will be interesting. I would change engine manufacturers for something at this investment level to ones with a strong history of long term dependability. This is what I do for a living (UAV gas engines) and something I have a lot of experience with at the hobby level too. Something will have to be done about engine exhaust because the sound of the props combined with the engine noise will be horrendous.

Which engines are they using? I have a gas heli with a Zenoah. Should be very reliable. They are basically just converted commercial motors. Are they using HK motors or something?

I'd be scared to rely on a servo to keep it in the sky. The vibrations coming off them motors has to be extreme..... i've seen weird stuff happen in gassers and servos and electronics in general

Vibrations are a consideration, but should be manageable. Overall, the reliability of these helis systems can be better than multirotors. Remember the technology is very mature. I've seen guys with hundreds of flights on gassers without failure. At that point, they replace components when they wear out, and the wear is usually detectable on inspection, unlike massive ESC FETs. You can't predict when those are going to go.
 

Old Man

Active Member
A Zenoah will last forever if cared for half way decent. The engines on the quad look to be Chinese copies of a 3w or MVVS. Most all of the copied designs significantly changed the internal layout of the cylinders to save money on production costs during the sand casting process. The change in design causes them to shorten the life of the piston and ring dramatically. There's also issues with the use of lower grade bearings and carburetors low in reliability. Only one thing keeps the props spinning and you want that to be the best it can be, not the lowest priced.

As for servo reliability, great servos can be had at pretty good prices. As you noted, gas RC guys have been working theirs hard for a good many years. A little periodic maintenance and they keep on going. A well designed installation can permit a good servo to easily perform for a 100 hours or more. And that's in a position directly mounted to a gas engine.
 

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